Study Abroad - Chris Stamas' blog

Studying in Greece

Hello, Greece!

Thursday, Sep. 23, 2010

After arriving in Athens, it was up to me to get acquainted with the city and more importantly, get to know my future study abroad companions. I choose the Athens study abroad program foremost because of my background as a Greek-American, but also for its small size. So far it has been the perfect choice. There are about 50 students in the program, which is an amount that will allow me to meet everyone. The students come from tremendously diverse backgrounds, which has allowed me to meet interesting people as well as learn more about myself.

Getting to know so many people seemed like a daunting task, but thankfully Arcadia had a week of orientation planned. After several days figuring out Athens, I was off to the tiny island of Tinos where our goal was to rest, relax, and get to know one another. Im happy to say I was successful in completing all of the above.

Unlike the more popular islands of Mykonos and Santorini, Tinos is not a popular tourist destination. This fact made the trip that much better. The highlight of our stay was having dinner on a tiny village overlooking the sea.

From the picture, youll understand how I felt as though I was standing in a painting. Greek people are known for a much slower pace of living. We abided by Greek culture and took two and a half hours to complete the meal. It involved appetizers, dinner, coffee, and sweets all while immersed in great conversation. Everything was scrumptious but more importantly, I got to know some amazing people from all over America. It was the perfect starting off point for the future relationships I will have with my classmates.